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Over 36 Years Television Production experience in the San Francisco Bay Area (KTVU, KICU & KNTV). Local Programming (producing, writing, editing) short form (:10 to :60) PSA, promotional, and commercial spots; long form (1:00 – 5:00) news stories, sales presentations, and feature segments; and ½ hour to 2 hour entertainment and documentaries programs.

Treat/Synopsis/Outline – what we see on the screen, scene-by-scene. Noemi highlight treatment format. Third-person, broad strokes of what we see. We reviewed some students’ treatments. Noemi shared the resource simplyscripts.com.

Jon-Mychal Cox, reminded us that Laney Election Days are May 12 – 13 (and asked that we consider voting for him for president.)

Homework (Due 5/5/14) – Based on feedback received, update, clarify and improve story line, plot points and turn in a typed copy of either your:

Logline & 3-paragraph synopsis or

First 2 pages (of 4-page) treatment or

First 5 pages (0f 10-page) script

Be sure to set up a clear problem and build-up to a climactic scene and on to a resolution.

Noemi reviewed some of the homework — loglines and one-page descriptions (treatment) of scripts. There is a tendency to take on too much detail and too many characters. The idea of telling one simple story with a clear arc first was emphasized. Once this is done, details, foreshadowing, other character development, etc. should come later as a way to create the needed drama and tension as the story follows its basic arc.

The class viewed an excellent overview of how to start writing a 3-act story — Setting a Story in Motion: Michael Arndt on the Lessons He Learned at Pixar:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6mSdlfpYLU]

The class also watched and discussed a hard-hitting French music video by Stromae:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKftOH54iNU&w=854&h=510]HOMEWORK (DUE Next Week, 4/28): Either 2) Produce the first 5 pages of a 10-page script (up through the pinch) based on your story:

Act 1 should be from page 1 – page 2 1/2 (First 25% of story.)

Act 2 should be from page 2 1/2 – page 7 1/2 (Middle 50% of story.)

Act 3 should be from page 7 1/2 – page 10 (Final 25% of story.)

For treatments, follow the suggestions from last week’s handout.

For script formatting, follow the text, Book 3, page 154, which include:

Character’s first appearance in description — present name in ALL CAPS the first time it is used in a description. Example:

LARRY, the chief of surgery, storms out of the surgery suite. In the hallway, Larry runs into his elderly mother, JANE.

Character’s names as heading for dialog is always in ALL CAPS and the dialog follows:

TERRENCE
I will never like that man. I gotta brain. He don’t.

Parenthetical statements – provide action or attitude for the character and is placed under the character’s name:

Loglines – The class broke in to small groups to get feedback and work on each student’s logline.

Short Film – The class watched a short film. The class discussed the clarity of the story line, the very good acting and how the images supported the story.

Cyrano’s Final Script, “Last Anniversary” – The class participated in a table read and audition for Cyrano’s final script.

Homework (Due Next Week – 4/21/15) – The homework is to write a logline and then a 3-paragraph synopsis of their final project idea — 1 paragraph per act — Acts I, II & II. The text refers to this as a “one-sheet” or “pitch on paper” or “POP.” This is used to pitch your story and leave it behind at pitching meetings. So, here is an outline of what your “one-sheet” should contain:

Your name and contact information

Title of your story

Logline

3-paragraph summary of your story (1 paragraph for each of Acts I, II & II.)

(See “Book V: How to Sell Your Script — A Marketing Plan” section of the text for examples.)

Student Film Project – The class watched several minutes of a film project produced by Franklin, which examined the impact of smoking pot on diverse people.

Concept – The class reviewed the idea of concept and read the “It’s Gotta Be Big” section of the textbook (page 30.) The class broke into small groups, each group developed a concept statement, in the form of a premise question, for the film that Franklin produced. Some of the concepts:

What if smoking pot made you smarter?

What if you asked people who have never tried pot to do so?

What if you used marijuana as a conflict resolution tool?

What if you got members of the Bloods and the Crips to smoke pot together?

What if you showed the down sides of smoking pot through heavy users attempting to explain the benefits?

The class did a group exercise, “Distinct Reactions,” broke into groups and created short scenes for various scenarios (which were listed on a handout.)

Noemi provided an overview of loglines and the class read the logline handout.

HOMEWORK: Write up a logline based on the first act of “Precious.” Typed, due next week.

Noemi reviewed genres and the class discussed several “rules of the universe” that we would find in different genres and in movie scripts (like “Precious”) and in movies (like “The Red Balloon.”) Examples of rules of the universe are:

In “The Red Balloon,” one rule of the universe is that balloons have feelings, friends — are like humans.

In “Precious,” one rule is that verbal and physical abuse is “normal” in Precious’ daily life.

NOTE: The mid-term due date was moved out to the beginning of class on Tuesday, April 7.

In small groups we wrote scenes based on the Cute Meet guidelines. The groups then presented what they had written and the class discussed the elements of the scene, and whether the Cute Meet was compelling enough to drive the action to the next plot point and beyond.

The class watched and discussed the cute meet scene from Annie Hall, and then watched and discussed several other scenes for that film.

Media 125 MIDTERM — Precious Screenplay Analysis – Noemi distributed copies of the midterm, screenplay analysis of “Precious” and explained and answered questions about the first 5 questions. She will go over the rest next week. The midterm is due April 7. Answer the following questions for the screenplay Precious by Geoffrey Fletcher — not the movie based on the script. Type your answers on a separate page.

1. (3 points) Write an original logline for Precious using the guidelines outlined in Anatomy of a Logline by Rob Gregory-Browne. Do NOT copy/modify an existing logline — the must be your own: https://library.creativecow.net/articles/gregory_browne_rob/logline.php)

2. (9 points) For each of the main characters in the story (you should include at least three characters): a. What does the character want to accomplish? b. What are his/her obstacles? c. What’s at stake for her/him?

3. (1 point) What is the screenplay’s message?

4. (1 point) Who is the protagonist and why?

5. (3 points) Describe the protagonist’s character arc.

6. (3 points) Are the rules of the universe established early on i.e. elephants can fly? Describe three rules.

7. (1 point) Is there a specific tone established early on i.e. permission to laugh in a comedy? Give an example to illustrate your point.

8. (12 points) If you organize the script into a three act structure, pinpoint the following plot points in the script and explain why you think they are so (be specific): -Catalyst -Big Event -Pinch -Crisis -Showdown -Realization

9. (3 points) List three characters who at least sometimes function as a mentor? Briefly explain when in the script and how. (Refer to Hero’s Journey: http:// www.thewritersjourney.com/hero’s_journey.htm#Heroine)

10. (5 points) For each of the following archetypes, list a character who at some point in the script takes on the role/mask and describe how: a. Threshold guardian, b. Herald, c. Shapeshifter, d. Shadow, e. Trickster (Refer to Hero’s Journey: http:// www.thewritersjourney.com/hero’s_journey.htm#Heroine)

11. (3 points) Describe three plants and their payoffs in the script.

12. (4 points) A motif is a repeated idea, pattern, image or theme. Describe a motif developed throughout the script. When does it occur? What does it symbolize? Does it change or take on a new meaning as the story progresses? Be specific.

13. (2 points) Is the story open-ended or are all loose ends tied up? If there are loose ends, describe them.